Danzo's carefully prepared "public trial," impassioned yet laced with his own agenda, finally "ended."
Rather than a trial, it had been a one-sided political performance and exercise in psychological pressure, conducted in the name of "seeking guidance" and "denouncing the ills of the times."
Bound by Impure World Reincarnation, Tobirama Senju could neither speak nor argue back. He could only stand like a cold statue in the middle of the drill grounds, silently enduring his disciple's wholesale rejection and public humiliation of his decisions, ideals, and even his character, his eyes crimson as blood.
Hashirama Senju, meanwhile, had stood motionless with his eyes closed throughout, seemingly deaf to everything around him. Only his faintly trembling brows and increasingly tight lips betrayed that his heart was anything but calm.
When Danzo finally finished his "statement," he ordered Orochimaru to strengthen his control with a twisted sense of satisfaction and an air of "righteousness," then had the two former Hokage's reanimated bodies "escorted" back to a specially prepared tent covered in seals to "rest." The crowd on the drill grounds gradually dispersed in stifled bewilderment.
Only whispers and countless complicated, inexpressible looks lingered in the direction where the two former Hokage had disappeared.
Inside the tent, the glow of the seals rippled faintly, shutting out most of the sounds outside.
After reinforcing them, Orochimaru tactfully withdrew as well, leaving the brothers alone.
Silence filled the tent, broken only by the barely perceptible sound of energy flowing through the sealing runes from time to time.
A long while passed.
"Tobirama." Hashirama Senju finally opened his eyes. Those eyes, always brimming with sunshine and vitality, now held a heavy weariness, sorrow, and a lingering trace of bewilderment.
He looked at his younger brother beside him, his voice low and hoarse, like a traveler nearing